Taco Tick

I've tried to do a little research about the dreaded "Taco Tick" and I can't find any that describes a ticking noise when slowing down to a stop. I hope this is just another "normal" noise but I just wanted to see if other owners are hearing the same thing. It almost sounds like if you put a metal card in the spokes of a moving bike wheel. Once the truck is stopped or near stopped it goes away. My baby is a 2013 DCSB TRD Sport. Thanks.

 

Well I am guessing that you have the 4.0l v6. The v6 has what they call direct acting mechanical buckets to open the valves rather then the roller followers with hydraulic lash adjusters like most other engines now days. These type of buckets are kind of like the solid lifter cams of the yester years in muscle cars. They are going to make noise, using high grade oil might help, but won't totally get rid of the noise.

 

I do have the 4.0L V6. Thanks for the info. I have the toyocare package so I plan to get my oil changes done at the dealers. Can you ask the dealers to use different oil or will they only use the Toyota recommended stuff?

 

Some people have found using different octanes and brands of gas to lessen the tick.

 

Usually the dealer's use petroleum based oils, for the Toyota service unlessyou cover the difference for the synthetic. I did and do my own oil changes with Amsoil synthetic, but if you are not well versed in changing oil don't do it. Some around here have mistakenly pulled the transmission drain plug.Which turns into something really ugly.

 

Oh, I also forgot to mention use 5w30 (standard for V6) rather then 5w20 or 0w20( used in 4cylinder), the 20w oil is thinner and is more likely to make more noise.

 

Gasoline octane reduces the valve clearance?

 

That was my thought. Why would Toyota set these up with so much valve clearance? The only thing I can think of is for longer valve adjustment intervals.

 

There is no adjustment, " per se.

You have to measure clearances and install thicker or thinner buckets as needed.

Also I have never had to do this on a Toyota engine, even my high mileage engines never needed it.

 

A heavier weight of oil might help. Especially if it has 0W-20 or 0W-30 in it (which will yield better fuel economy), switching to 5W-30 would help.

 

Mine does it, too. Mostly when it's cold.

Enjoy your new truck; drive more and worry less.

 

It was a fairly common on the old 3L engines for the clearance to tighten up enough to hold the valve open.

 

It really is not that great it just sounds like it. The concept makes sense and has been used for 70 years or more, in theory the valve, valve seats and the shims/buckets all ware at the same rate so the clearance remains the same through out the life of the valve. The design is simple and light and is used in many high RPM engines.

 

In general, but not always, valves tend to tighten up as they age and that goes for the shim type that the Taco has.

At the cost of a valve adjustment from Toyota and the fact that most people don't even think of such things, it is possible that the Toyota assembly line sets the valves to the loose end during manufacture, knowing full well that they are one of the last items even dreamed about. Thus the infamous tick.

It would be interesting if someone would chime in that had the tick and after piling up a good supply of miles, had it diminish or even go away. This would potentially strengthen the theory proposed, or kick it in the ass.

 

Use LUCAS oil stabilizer, the shit works great especially if your using 5W-30. Has the consistency of honey but makes the engine sound great! also, it prevents dry starts because it coats all the moving parts in your engine.

 

This:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/43632-ticking-engine-one-fix.html

 

On that note, why not just use hydraulic lifters? Then there's no tick and no need to deal with valve clearences.

 

Heavy take up too much room and cost more.

 

Hydraulic Lifters were used in US Car/Truck engines for more years than most of us have been alive. They do tick and make noise sometimes. On many engines they also required adjustment ( Chevy 283 engine for just one example ). They also insert other issues into the mix.

I personally like the over head cam design with lifter " buckets or shims ". Much less complicated than hydraulic lifters with push rods etc...

Just because it ticks doesn't: Mean that it needs adjustment or Indicate there is a problem. In the Toyota V6 it is just a Characteristic of the engine design.

 

I have a 07 with the 4.0 and it had 60k miles when i bought her and noticed the " taco tic " right away. and beig that i am a bit ocd with loose parts and noises iv been researchign this and trying to find a fix for some while now. I installed that rubber washer on that little air pump deal on the intake manifold, it didint do much at all. I tried running full synthetic oil and it helped a little bit. then i noticed that when i run cheveron 91 octane this helps the most be reducing the noise , but it still it loud enough to bother me. So i bought a set of ceramic coated headers because i read that the stock manifolds are very thin and resinate the tick even more due to their construction. well headers didint help at all, they made it worse . I even did a seafoam treatment and although it really made my truck run smoother it still didint help with the tic . At this point im thinking about taking her into a shop to have the valves adjusted , new plugs and check on my injectors . i wish there was a upgrade available to fix whatever is causing this, all i want is to hear a smooth runnign engine with no leaks or ticks or rattles.